Page 28 of Decorated

The kiss wasn’t even deep, and when Alfie pulled back, lips still slightly parted, Blaine was left grasping for more.

“Alright,” Alfie said in his take-charge voice. “That’s better. Now look at me.”

Blaine didn’t dare do anything but look directly at him.

“I’m not breaking up with you,” he said. “Granted, we aren’t actually dating, so really I should say that I’m not shutting the door on you. I’d like to discuss the possibility of us dating once this party is over.”

As soon as he said that, Alfie blinked and frowned slightly at himself. It was like Blaine could see the wheels in his head turning. He shook off whatever thought had struck him, took a breath, and focused on Blaine again.

“Yes, you’re a hot mess, but you’re also vibrant and creative, and you make me happy. That shirt is as mad as a box of frogs, but it suits you perfectly. It’s you. You’re you, and I like you just the way you are.”

“Thank you, Mark Darcy,” Blaine sighed. He wasn’t sure whether Alfie got the reference.

“The party looks great. Those kids are having a good time with the art projects,” Alfie went on.

Blaine leaned to the side so he could look past him into the room. More kids were arriving by the second, along with several people from the community who took classes at the arts center.Blaine searched their faces for any sign of Dave, but before he spotted him, Alfie grasped his face again and turned it to look back at him.

“You’re okay, Blaine,” Alfie said. “The party is going to be fun, and if and when Dave arrives, we’ll deal with him together.”

Blaine sucked in a shaky breath. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had someone to stand by his side and deal with hard things together with. Bax was always there when he needed his brother, but lately, it had been more of a humiliation than a help to turn to the rest of the Hawthornes when he needed something. His siblings and cousins were all so amazing, so competent and creative. He didn’t know how he could measure up?—

“Blaine,” Alfie said to stop his thoughts from spiraling.

“I’m here, I know,” Blaine said. He forced himself to breathe. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me to hear you say you’ll stick by me.”

Alfie’s face pinched its way through several emotions before settling on a smile. “It’s okay,” he said. “My pleasure. And I swear, whatever it is Dave wants, it won’t be as bad as you think.”

“I burned someone’s house down,” Blaine said flatly.

“The house you were working in experienced a fire due to faulty wiring and burned after you left the premises,” Alfie corrected him.

“You’re too kind,” Blaine said.

“I know,” Alfie told him with a wink.

He leaned in for another kiss, but before their lips could meet, Rebecca showed up to say, “Hey, I hate to break this up, but the kids need help with their costumes for the program and I’m volunteering you two.”

“Right,” Alfie said, pulling back immediately, but giving Blaine a tantalizing look.

“We’ve volunteered for that?” Blaine asked, a bit wobbly. He didn’t want to think about kids just then. He wanted to drag Alfie off to his flat so they could get the after-party activities started earlier.

“Looks like we did,” Alfie said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back out into the open.

Blaine looked around again, searching for Dave, as Alfie walked with him to the corner of the room, where the kids who were participating in a small Christmas program were putting on bits and pieces of costume over their party clothes.

The room had filled up a lot in the few minutes since Alfie had pulled him aside for their little talk…which they hadn’t really had. More of the groups from nearby children’s homes and family programs had arrived. The volume in the room had increased as well to the point where chattering voices and kids laughing and carrying on almost drowned out the carols that were playing through the PA system.

As they neared the kids putting on costumes, Blaine searched frantically for Dave. Alfie might not have been worried, but a party was the perfect time to slap him with a lawsuit or cause a public scene that would mean he could never show his face in public again.

“Don’t you look good,” Alfie said as they reached the group of kids.

For half a second, Blaine thought he had had a change of heart about sequined cardinals and was talking about him. That he could even imagine that was embarrassing and a sign of just how out of control his ego was. Alfie was talking about the kids, though, and they all looked great.

“I can’t get the back,” one girl in an angel costume, who was practically spinning in circles as she tried to reach for the Velcro fastenings at the back of her white smock said.

“Here, let me,” Alfie said, stepping in to assist her.

Blaine jumped into action as well, helping a trio of boys who were wearing brown mitts of some sort that might indicate they were trying to be gingerbread men as they searched through a box of bow ties. It was nice to be there for the kids, but his attention was more on Alfie than costumes.

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